Judge: Daley can be included as defendant in Burge suits

A federal judge has ruled that former Mayor Richard M. Daley can be sued for alleged police brutality conspiracies that happened under former Chicago police Commander Jon Burge.

The July ruling by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer applies to just one of several lawsuits filed in the brutality cases, and it means that attorneys for the plaintiff in the case, Michael Tillman, can begin proceedings to depose Daley, said Flint Taylor, an attorney for Tillman.

Daley has been named in three other brutality lawsuits stemming from the torture and abuse that Burge is believed to have perpetrated years ago on dozens of African American men in Chicago -- many of whom gave coerced confessions. But as they did in the Tillman case, the city moved to remove Daley from the lawsuits.

The Tillman case marks the first time a judge has ruled there is reason to allow the Daley to remain in the lawsuit, Taylor said. In this case, Pallmeyer ruled that Daley could be sued on the conspiracy claims that Tillman has alleged.

Tillman served nearly 24 years in prison for a July 1986 rape and murder before his conviction was vacated and the charges dismissed by a Cook County special prosecutor in January 2010, according to the court filing. He received a certificate of innocence from the Circuit Court of Cook County in February 2010.

Tillman brings a host of claims against the police officers, police supervisors, and prosecutors involved in his arrest, conviction and prolonged confinement, according to the filing.

“We were extremely pleased by the judge’s decision to hold Daley in the conspiracy allegations and consider it to be a significant victory in the long and ardous struggle in the police torture cases,” Taylor said.

Taylor has scheduled a Sept. 8 deposition, but the city has filed a motion asking Pallmeyer to reconsider her ruling.